Blogs

With nearly 70% of Scotland’s land used for agriculture, farmers will play a key role in addressing the biodiversity and climate crises. In order to document what habitats are present and their condition, NatureScot has been developing tools to help farmers to quantify their habitats and how they are performing.

At the Allerton Project, the research team aim to measure some of the ecosystem benefits of agroforestry and set them into a realistic farming example.

As winter seems to be in full swing, many organisations are encouraging us to feed the birds. They are reminding everyone to maintain consistency, while also advising on what and how to feed for the best results. This is largely targeted towards garden birds, which can be significant when our gardens make up 4.6% of the land use in the UK. However, farmland makes up a huge 72% of the land use in the UK.

One aim of the PepsiCo FAB project is to enhance communication between project participants. Over the course of the project, this has been done in a number of ways including regular updates, building relationships and providing project-related training events.

The year 2024 has officially been declared “the worst year for bumblebees since records began” by the Bumblebee Conservation Trust. While out in the field surveying pollinators across southern England, GWCT researchers also noticed a shocking decline in bee numbers compared to previous years. And they were not alone. What’s behind these declines?

There’s a lot of talk about the closure of the Sustainable Farming Incentive scheme. The SFI has not ended. Because the scheme was so good farmers have piled into it enthusiastically and all the money is now committed.

Farmers are not expecting free handouts, they are able and willing to play a central role in restoring nature for fair reward and it’s critical that Government keeps them on board for the benefit of all.

The suggestion that the solution to the “Nature Crisis” is through further SSSI designation is a flawed concept. Many of the existing SSSI sites are already not meeting their conservation objectives – simply adding more will not help.

Defra has unveiled the new Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier (CSHT) scheme, a key part of its Environmental Land Management (ELM) initiative. 

The GWCT’s Allerton Project demonstration farm has joined the Central England branch of the Environmental Farmers Group.